I don’t normally watch late night TV, but I kept catching glimpses of a story about Jimmy Fallon, and the horrible injury he had to his finger/hand. So I found a YouTube video of his explaining how he got the injury (ouch) and how he ended up having a six-hour surgery to save the hand.
But for the life of me, I cannot understand how delicate hand surgery can land someone in the ICU for ten days! Is there something about the story I’m missing? I’ve discussed this with a few friends, and none of us can come up with a good reason for his staying there that long. I developed septis last summer and was in the hospital for five days, but just on a regular telemetry unit… not even ICU! And I was sicker than I’d ever been in my life.
Clearly he got the star treatment. By his own admission, they would typically amputate a finger with most people similarly injured. I guess they would cut off the finger and send you home the next day. In his case, after 6 hours of microsurgery they probably kept him in the ICU (AKA movie star ward) for 10 days to make sure the finger remained attached. It also gave the hospital staff more time to get to know him and get selfies taken (autographs would have been very difficult)
low blood flow and oxygen level in the fingers post surgery
toxic reaction to anesthesia while in surgery
heart stopped while on the operating table or other serious complications
developed sepsis after surgery
blood clot developed after surgery and broke off blocking an important blood vessel
other possible post surgical complications which are too numerous to list
the list goes on and on
NO ONE deliberately tries to stay in the ICU unit any longer than necessary-
patients in ICU’s often suffer from sleep deprivation, which slows down the healing process, because of the constant noise, lights, being woken up by nurses checking on your status, etc.
There might be a whole slew of reasons why he was in the ICU for longer that he doesn’t want to go into.
I had (what should be) very routine gallbladder surgery a few years ago and ended up staying in the ICU for several days partially due to the fact that the recovery meds they gave me made me very, very sick.
I sincerely doubt he was there longer than he needed to be. Who voluntarily chooses to stay in a hospital??
Nobody would call the ICU the Movie Star Ward. In ICU, you can often not have flowers, outside food, visitors at all hours. Often visitors are limited to immediate family only, and only 2 at a time. Sometimes there aren’t private rooms, just glass partitions between beds so that the patient can be watched all the time.
I’d imagine it was some kind of infection or reaction to a drug or anesthesia . My brother was in the hospital for an Achilles surgery and one day when we went in he’d been moved to ICU because of an allergic reaction to a dye test that shut down his kidneys. He was in ICU for about 5 days then moved back to the other ward where the room was much bigger (but IMO, dirtier).
My sister had a baby in the ‘Movie star ward’, a room that she paid extra for, was waited on, could order any meals she wanted. It wasn’t only for new babies, but for those who wanted pampering. However, you had to be fairly healthy to be on that ward. Babies, elective surgery, routine surgery. Music, wine, nice fluffy pillows.
From the link above: “Fallon spent his week and change in the ICU watching countless hours of The Real Housewives of New York City and reading books about the meaning of life.”
IME (albeit limited), in an ICU most people are barely awake. Was he really in the ICU, or just a room??
A ENT here suffered a similar injury. He was in ICU for a few days while they desperately tried to save the finger. He eventually lost the finger and can no longer operate.
I don’t watch Tv so I dont notice if they have it in the rooms, but I dont think ICUs or CCUs generally have tvs in the rooms.
I dont understand the surprise that someone who has good insurance can get better care. Its not a new thing.
It’s possible that he felt like he was getting intensive care so he thought it must have been the ICU but he was really just getting hospital care. If you haven’t spent a lot of time in hospitals you might not know the difference.
My uncle just got out of intensive care and his room definitely had a TV for what it’s worth. He was also there for a decent amount of time - I believe a bit longer than Jimmy Fallon.
I suspect the ICU info is absolutely true especially in light of recent exaggerations by other well known media figures. . The other details are probably only part of the story. Do people really expect an hour by hour description of everything he did in the hospital and where he did it? Late night tv is not a court room.
He definitely looked a little rough on his first night back. And can you believe that Steve Higgins had Lyme disease at the same time?
Yes, those are all complications from the injury/surgery. If he had complications, then just say, “I had complications,”; he doesn’t need to give specifics. I can understand being in the ICU for complications, but geez, if he had no complications and spent ten days in the ICU because he wanted treatment that most of us wouldn’t get, I have a problem with that… unless his insurance company wouldn’t pay for that level of care, and he paid cash.
Fallon was in Bellevue according to the article linked. This is a public hospital. It’s pretty bare boned. It’s not exactly Lenox Hill. ( I don’t mean the quality of medical care is lacking. I mean it doesn’t have “movie star” wards. No conciege parking.) If he was in Bellevue for 10 days, he needed to be in Bellevue for 10 days.
Here’s a link to his doctor’s bio. Near the bottom you can read about the procedure that was used on Fallon. Sounds pretty cutting edge to me. http://davidchiumd.com/drchiu.html